


War

by smilesaretoxic



Series: Elemental Opposites (aka Notice Me Senpai) [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-17
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 09:11:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6278446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilesaretoxic/pseuds/smilesaretoxic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Second part of a two part series. Slight hints at Zutara. After last time, Zuko is determined to make things even. Will he succeed? More clueless Zuko and sassy Katara, this time with the ever-hungry Sokka, rational Suki, devious Toph, and the innocent Aang.</p>
            </blockquote>





	War

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Guys! Here's part two of the series! I'm hoping you read the first part before reading this, so if you haven't, go read "The Water Jug" now! Anyway, once again, this is the first fic I'm posting, so not too much hate please! Leave feedback if you feel inclined and above all, enjoy! Happy Reading! -Sam :3

Today was the day. Zuko had been looking for the perfect opportunity to get Katara back for leaving him encased in ice the other day, but she was always surrounded by someone else. Today, however, she had offered to fetch water from the freshwater pool and he was determined to make things even. He followed her to the pool and hid a few trees away, waiting for her to head back before jumping down from the tree into the path in front of her. She started making her way back to the camp and he waited until she was about ten paces away before jumping down.  
“AHHHHHHHHHH!” Zuko yelled, for extra scaring effect. Before his feet hit the ground, however, he found himself frozen. In ice. _Again_. He succeeded in scaring her, but he hadn’t thought about how she was apt to react. He also overlooked the fact that she was carrying a jar full of her own element. If he could’ve hit his forehead, he would have.  
“Zuko? What the hell are you doing?” Katara quickly relaxed her defensive stance and moved into her angry one. He _really_ messed this one up.  
“I, uh, was trying to scare you?” he said timidly, not meeting her eyes. Luckily he didn’t meet her eyes because she narrowed them into slits and shot daggers so sharp they might’ve made him cry.  
“You were trying to scare me?!” she said incredulously. “You thought that you would be able to scare **ME** , a master waterbender, who was walking with a jug full of water?!” She laughed at him, shaking her head. Zuko stayed looking down until she spoke again.  
“You’re going to have do better than that if you want to scare me.” She stated simply, walking away.  
“Wait!” Zuko called out after her, “Aren’t you going to unfreeze me?” She looked like she was thinking about it for a minute before smiling slightly and shaking her head.  
“No, I think I’ll leave you in there to get yourself out. Maybe you can take the time to think of a better way to scare me,” she said finally, heading back to camp. He groaned to himself. _I’m definitely going to need some help with this_ , he thought.

Zuko sat in front of Sokka as he sharpened his boomerang.  
“Why should I help you again?” he asked, not looking up from what he was doing. Zuko groaned, trying to resist the urge to hit his forehead in frustration. He had explained this to Sokka at least four times already.  
“It’s not that I’m opposed to the chance of messing with my sister, but I’ve been the victim of too many bending mishaps. And I’d rather not be at the end of one of her water whips now that she actually has control of her bending, yah feel me?” Sokka spoke again, finally looking up at Zuko.  
“I’ll give you anything you want, Sokka.” Zuko pleaded, “I just really need your help.”  
“Anything?” Sokka asked, “How about some meat?”  
“Where am I supposed to get meat from?” Zuko said, getting annoyed, “It’s not as if I can just walk into town and buy—“  
“No meat, no deal,” Sokka interrupted, starting to get up and leave. Zuko racked his brains for some type of bargaining chip. Sokka had started walking when Zuko burst out,  
“Fire flakes!” Sokka halted, turning around.  
“What did you say?” he asked, eyes wide, already searching for the bag. Zuko knew he had Sokka right where he wanted him.  
“You heard me,” Zuko said, much calmer “Fire flakes. I have a bag. If you agree to help me with your sister, I’ll give you the entire bag.” Sokka came closer.  
“The **WHOLE** bag?” Sokka was already drooling. Zuko nodded and Sokka grabbed his hand, shaking it vigorously.  
“DEAL! Here’s what we’re gonna do,” Sokka stared and Zuko smiled. Katara had no idea what she had coming.

“Alright, everything is set.” Sokka brushed off his hands as he stood up. Everything was set. The two of them admired their handiwork with smiles and started walking back to the camp to set the plan into motion. While they walked, Zuko went over the plan in his head. Sokka had decided to camouflage a net underneath some leaves and forest debris so that when Katara walked over it she’d be captured and hoisted high into the air, without a way to get down. It was Zuko’s job to get Katara to the net and then everything else would take care of itself. They parted ways as soon as they saw Katara, so it would be less suspicious. Zuko approached her nonchalantly.  
“Hey, Katara,” he said, standing next to her. She looked up from the supplies she was sorting.  
“Hey, Zuko,” she said with a smile. “What’s up?”  
“I found some berry bushes in a clearing not too far from here. I’m not sure if they’re poisonous or not, but I thought you could check them out and we might have them for dinner today.”  
“That sounds like a good idea! Where are they?” she said, getting up.  
“Not too far; follow me!” He said, turning to lead the way. This is working perfectly! He thought to himself, as Katara started to follow him to the trap. Zuko made sure to walk close enough to her that she wouldn’t suspect anything, but far enough that he wouldn’t be caught in the net as well.  
“The bushes are just around this—” SWOOSH! The trap was triggered, and Katara was lifted high into the air before she could say his name.  
“Zuko! What is the meaning of this?! Get me down this instant!” she grabbed the net and shook it furiously. Zuko backed up slowly, his hands in his pockets.  
“Sorry, Katara, but this is what you get for leaving me trapped in ice. Twice, I might add.” She snarled at him and he lifted his hands, shrugging, palms out.  
“Besides,” he continued, “I couldn’t get you down even if I wanted to. I don’t have anything to cut you down with. I’ll send someone to get you later. Maybe you should think twice before leaving me encased in ice next time!” He turned, starting to walk back.  
“ZUKO! GET BACK HERE AND GET ME DOWN NOW!” she yelled after him, but he kept walking, whistling as he went along.

It took almost an hour before Suki found her, sitting quietly in the net.  
“Katara? Are you okay?” Katara nodded, staying quiet. Suki made quick work of getting her down. As soon as her feet were on the floor again, Katara spoke.  
“I’m going to kill him!”  
“Who, Katara?  
“Zuko, the stupid jerkbender! And my idiot of a brother!” she started to head back to camp, a murderous look in her eyes.  
“Woah, Katara, calm down,” Suki held her friend by the shoulders. Tell me what happened.” The two of them started walking back to camp slowly, giving Katara time to tell Suki everything and to try and calm down.  
“They’re going to pay for this,” Katara finished.  
“Who’s going to pay for what, Sugar Queen?” Toph asked, overhearing the girls as they got closer to where the blind earthbender was sitting, picking her toes. Katara didn’t answer but merely growled. Toph looked in her direction.  
“Woah. You’re really pissed. What did Sparky and Snoozles do now?” Katara looked at Suki as to tell her to explain the situation to Toph. So Suki retold the tale to Toph, just omitting the various insults to cut down on the length. When she had finished, Toph had a devious smile on her face.  
“Well, Sugar Queen, if you’re planning on getting them back, I have a brilliant idea.”

Toph’s plan was a perfect embarrassment and they took no time at all to put it into motion the next day. Zuko was headed to the pool to take a bath, and while he was preoccupied, Toph was going to steal his pants and underwear from where he left them on the bank while Suki and Katara were going to take all of his pants and underwear at camp and hide them somewhere in the forest. The met up with the clothing before Suki realized one glaring flaw in this part of the plan.  
“Um, guys,” Suki started, after they had hidden Zuko’s clothes in plain sight, “what is he going to do once he’s done bathing?”  
“What do you mean, Suki?” Katara asked, not yet seeing the flaw.  
“I mean, we took all of his clothes. He’s going to be naked.” Toph snickered while Katara’s face flushed.  
“What’s wrong with that?” Toph asked.  
“We need to leave him at least something!” Suki exclaimed. Katara thought briefly before speaking.  
“Suki is right. We’ll leave him a towel or something. I’d rather not have to see……all of that.”  
Toph walked off to go get Zuko something to protect his manhood with. _What’s the point of trying to get Sparky back if we’re going to do it the wimpy way_ , she thought to herself as she walked away.

Zuko finished his bath and got out of the water, looking for his clothes so he could be decent before anyone saw him in the nude. He found his shirt and his shoes, but nothing else. _Shit_ , he thought to himself, _where’s the rest of my clothes_? He looked around and saw a towel but nothing else, so he fashioned it into a wrap to protect his modesty until he could get back to camp and get new clothes. When he got back to camp, however, he realized that all of his bottoms were missing. _You’ve got to be kidding me_. He groaned internally, but before he could think about where they might be, Aang came over to tell him that dinner was ready. He stopped short when he saw the towel around Zuko’s waist.  
“Uh, Zuko? Dinner is ready—hey, wait, is that my towel?” He got closer to inspect it. “Yeah! It is! What are you doing with—“  
“I need it. End of discussion.” Zuko snapped, storming out of the tent to sit near the fire for dinner. When the girls saw him, they tried to stifle their laughter.  
“Hey Zu—wait, why are you wearing a skirt?” Sokka asked, clearly confused.  
“Later,” Zuko said, not wanting anyone to notice and draw more attention to it. Katara served the food and gave Sokka and Zuko their bowls, a smile on her face.  
“Enjoy,” she said, before going to sit next to Aang, watching the boys closely. Sokka gulped down the stew eagerly before gagging and spitting it back out.  
“What the hell?” Sokka exclaimed, “This is disgusting!”  
“Something wrong, Sokka?” Katara asked calmly. Sokka looked at everyone else, realizing he was the only one who had a problem with the food. Everyone except Zuko at least. He had yet to taste his food. Sokka shook his head.  
“Nothing’s wrong…” he said quietly, waiting for Zuko to eat his food. As soon as Zuko took a bite, he had a similar reaction to Sokka, minus the vocal outburst. He met Sokka’s eyes and the two shared a mutual glance. She messed with their food. Sokka immediately got into a bad mood. No food and this was all the Jerkbender’s fault. The two of them sat silent for the rest of the meal and Sokka pulled Zuko into their tent once dinner was finished.  
“She messed up our food on purpose!” Sokka cried.  
“I know,” Zuko said, his stomach rumbling in sync with Sokka’s.  
“This is all your fault. I should’ve known she would figure out that I helped you with the net thing!” Sokka glared at Zuko. _The net. The food. MY CLOTHES_. Zuko made the connection and wondered why he didn’t put it together as soon as it happened.  
“Shit. I must have really pissed her off.”  
“No duh, Jerkbender! She ruined my food because of you! Now what am I supposed to eat?!” Zuko was about to respond with a scathingly sarcastic mark when Aang came in the tent with a wet, stinky bundle in his arms.  
“Uh, Zuko, I think these are yours…” Aang said softly. Zuko looked closer and realized the bundle was indeed his missing clothes, covered in urine. He was aghast.  
“I found them when I went to relieve myself…” the small boy continued, looking down as a flush covered his cheeks. Sokka gagged again, and Zuko growled.  
“That’s it,” he said, hearing the girls laughing by the fire, “this means war.”


End file.
